Cattle-guard.



No. 824,247. PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906. E. R. KERR.

CATTLE GUARD. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1905. RENEWED MAY 24, 1906.

SHEETS-SHEET l.

N I Q v :0 Q Witness lfiventor, I L by r I a W Attorneys I. R. KERR.

PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1905. RENEWED MAY 24, 1906.

Witnesses 1 p I ,l '6 by 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

s g s/ 22.15

Inventor Attorneys a To all whom it mag/concern." I

. Be it known that I, ELIsB'A R. KERR, a citi-' zen-of the United States, residing at'Erin, in}

s Fig. 2 is a longitudinal'sectionalview. Fig.

ED STATES PATENTQOFFICE.

ELISHA s. KERR, or ERIN, TENNESSEE.

.. CATTLE-GUARD.

the county of Houston and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and-useful Cattle.- Guard, of which the following is a specifics.- tion.,,

Thisinvention relates to cattle-guards for railroads and the principal objects of the invention are to sim end'cheapen the -constructionifand to increase the eificiency of this clf'ss of devices."

With these. and-other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the in-' vention is better. understood, .the same 0011-, sists in the improved construction and novel arrangementand combination of arts,

which will be hereinafter full describe and particularly pointed 'out'in e-claims.

inventio'n,,it being, howeven 'understood that no limitation isnecessarily made-to the pre- 'cise. structural details therein exhibited, but that changes,- alter: .tions', and modifications within the scope of the invention; may be made when desired. i 1 In the drawings, Figure 1' is a top plan view illustrating acettle-guard constructed in accordance with the principles ofjtheinvention.

3 is a perspective detail view.- Figs. 4,, 5, and

.6 are sectional details illustrating modifies-'- tions- Fig. 7 is s. detzil'perspective view illustrating another modification-. Q

. Corresponding parts in the several figur ters of reie'rence.

tle' ard I a "flnumberg 0 i speciallyprepared me supporting 'ties- 1 1 are i utilized, said llies-"being sawed 'orhewn to the :desired di- ',mensions',' usus-lly eight by eight inches square in cross-section. these ties any desired number maybe"employed,i according to the desiredlengthof the cattle-guard, ands idties sfre pltrcediuniformly-at a distance apt-rt of about eight inches, more or less. The

- track-rails 2 2 are intheusual manner supported and spiked upon the==ties'-1'.1,

e understood that of said ties. any desired number may be used. In the accompanying drawings six tieshav been shown; but the number and exactldimensions of the ties are entirely optional'and-may be varied accordmg to circumstances.

{Specification-dictators Batent; 3 Application filed November 8, 1905. BG116W6(1 Isyfii, 1906- flerlal No. 318,558. I a

ere indicated throughouttby similaricharecupon'the terminal ties 1 of the It is to j scent to the outer sides of the latter, are s'upported cap members 3 3 of. triangular shape, aving their sides at angles of forty-five de- Patented sinuses, 1906'. t

. Uponthe tiesl '1, between the rails end adgrees to their bases, which rest upon the 'upwood utilized in the construction being thorhly creosoted or' otherwise; treated to enprer surfaces ofthe ties andrare of a, width equal to the-latter. These cap member's me. be constructed of solid pieces of wood,

s est seen'in .Fig. 2 of the drawings, the'6 5' weatherwithout deca said cap members being secured upon't e' ties by means of spikes 4 or in an 0' her suitable way.

In Figs. 4 an 5- ave beenillustreted various forms of ca .members', (desi of suitable dimensions, said planks being ated, re-,' spectively, 3* an 3",) each form eing' con- 'structed or made upoiaplurality of planks In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated asimple and preferred form of the nailed or spiked together by means of nailsor spikes, as 4.- In the various forms the nails or spikes used for securing the cap members upon the ties and for u the caps are coated with or. bedded ,in somesnitable adhesive mixture or. cement, ss' indicated. at 5, in order that the parts may be joined .to-,v

gether in 'sucha manner thatthere will be no .danger of their being accidentally disassembled. I

In Fig. 6 has been illustrated a form ofcep membe'flspeciallydesi ated 3,) thesameb'eingmadeo'f cast-irono suitablesize andshape to besupported upon. the tie, where it is secured by means of nails or spikes, as 4.

The upper edges of the cap members are I provided with notches 6 of'suitable depth to form seats for a pluralityjof wire rods 7,

which are extended 1 longitudini-lly thefull firmly secured to the cap member's supported means of eyebolts 8 and nuts 9, t us prevent ing' said rods ,from' being tccidentall dis- ;distsnce of th.e cattle-guard and whichare a d, as by laced; lOrdin'arily' three of these ro s will he supported upon the cap members between the'rails andtwo upon each set of cap members adjacent to the outer sidesof the rails.

The exact number and disposition of fthese rods, however, may be'varied according to f.

circumstances.

The'rods 7 are provided intermediate. the spices of the cap members whereby they are supported with flattened or indented portions 8,7engagingcdrrespondingly flattened or indented portions 9 of rods 10, which ex\ and across the rods connected with the rods 7 by wires 11, suitably twisted upon and across the rods Tand 10 to firmly connect them together. The rods 10 are provided with spurs 12, which maybe formed upon or attached to said rods in any suitable convenient manner.

' The cap members supported upon the ties are providedat the apices thereof with upwardly-extending spurs 13, which are firmly embedded therei l and placed as closely together as may be desired.

" The longitudinal rods 7 are'secured inthe notches or seats of the cap members by means of staples 14-, straddling said rods and driven securely into the cap members. When. the cap members are made of metal, as in Fig. 6 of the drawings, hook-bolts, as 15, may be substituted for the staples 14.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art-to which it appertains. The

principal advantage of the invention resides in the facility With which it maybe constructed at a very moderate expense and in such a manner as to positively prevent the passage of animals over the guard and onto the right of way. The supporting-ties of the guard constitute in themselves a part of the road-.

bed, and the triangular supporting-caps may 'be placed thereon with little labor and wit The iron rods used in the I small expense. manufacture of the guard may be ordinary half-inch rods, which have been found to be sufficiently stout for the purposes of the invention and which may be supplied at'light expense. The mounting and wiring of the supporting-rods and the barbed rods may be performed by unskilled labor in averysatisfactory manner. Cattle and other animals will'be deterred from attempting to cross the guards by the spikes. which'project upwardly from the triangular caps, which latter afford the only footholds.

tempt to cross the guard by stepping upon If an animal should atthe inclined sides of the caps, its feet will be deflected in the direction of the barbed rods supported between the caps, whereby the sensitive parts of the leg will be pricked, thus causing the animal to speedily give up its attempts to cross.- v I To increase the 'efliciency and security of the improved cattle-guard, the cross-ties 1 1 are spaced apart beneath .the rails 2 2 by brace members17, consisting of wooden bars or blocks about three by three inches square,

which are firmly driven between the proxi-' mate ties and there secured in any suitable convenient manner.

7 between tlie'rails and adjai In place of the metal rodslDthere may be -cent'to the outer sides of the latter and are used-woodenrods, as 10, (see Fig. 8,) said wooden rods being preferably made round,

about two inches in diameter, and provided with prongs or spurs, as 12', and with notches, as 9, forming seats for the rods 7, upon which the rods 10 may be wired or otherwise suitabl secured. I

, aving thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A railroad cattle-guard including a plurality ofcross-ties, cap members of triangular cross section supported upon said ties and having upwardly extending spikes, and barbed rods supported intermediate the apices of the cap members.

2. A cattle'guard including a plurality of cross-ties, capmembers of triangular cross. section supported-upon said ties and having upwardly-extending spikes said cap members bein provided at intervals withnotehes, longitudinal rods seated in said notches, and

barbed rods connected witlrand supported by the longitudinal rods intermediate the vapices of the cap members.

3. A cattle-guard including a plurality of cap members triangular in cross-section, and supporting means for said cap members; in combination with longitudinal supportingrods resting upon and connected with thecap members and having flattened portions intermediate the a ices of the latter, and trans 'verse barbed ro s having flattened portions engaging the flattened portions-0f the sup.-

porting-rods; and means-for connecting the rods with the supporting-rods.

4/ In a cattle-guard, a plurality of cap members, triangular in cross-section, and provided withinotches in their upper edges; in combinationwith rods seated in said notches, eyebolts upon the terminal ties for the reception of the ends of-the rods, nutsupon the ends of the rods, and means for securing said rods in the seats of the intermediate caps.

5. In a cattle-guard, a plurality of rail-supporting ties, brace members spacing said ties apart beneath the rails, cap memberstriangular in cross-section supported upon the ties between the rails and adjacent'to the outer sides of the latter said caps having notches in their 'upper edges, longitudinal rods'seated in ties, and barbed rods connected with and upported by said longitudinal rods interme- (hate the apices of thecap membersij' In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the'presenc'e of two witnesses. F i

y ELISHA R. KERR. I Witnesses:

J. BIBRUNNELL, E. RQPARTRIDGE. 

